Drain-cap.



PATENTBD MAY 9, 1905.

lE. A. DREHER.

DRAIN CAP.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 19. 1904.

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/ ATTORNEY UNITED STATES Patented May 9, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.,

ERNEST A. DREHER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OE ONE-HALF TO EDWARD A. WURTH, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

DRAIN-CAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. '789.264, dated May 9, 1905.

Application filed April 19, 1904. Serial No. 203,830.

To all whom, t may con/cern.'

Be it known that I, ERNEST A. DREHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, inthe county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drain-Caps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the Iart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference -being had to the accompanying drawings, and to figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of clean-outs for drainpipes in which the ferrules at the upper terminals of said drain-pipes lying at or near the surfaces of the cellar-bottom are threaded internally and receive peripherally-threaded caps having central angular protuberances for a wrench or similar implement, by which said screw-caps are turned on their axes and thus unscrewed, and thus readily removed from the ferrule to permit access to the drain.

The object of this invention is to enable such a cap while performing its usual functions to serve automatically in draining a cellar in the event of said cellar being flooded and without preventing or interfering .with the unscrewing of the cap when the removal of said cap is found desirable.

Further objects are to provide a more simple clean-out and floor-drain, to reduce the cost of construction, and to secure other advantages and results, some of which may be hereinafter more fully described.

The invention consists in the im roved cap for drains, and especially a drain eading from the bottom of a cellar, and in the arrangements and combinations of parts of the same, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like figures of reference indicate corresponding parts inboth of the figures, Figure 1 is a plan of a ferrule having my improved cap, partly broken away to illustrate the interior construction more clearly. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same taken at line Qc of Fig. 1.

In said drawings, 10 indicates the ferrule, which is, as heretofore, imperviously connected with the clean-out extension of the sewer or drain pipe, the said ferrule at its upper end being provided with an interior or femaleY thread adapted to receive a cap 11, .the said cap being at its center provided with an angular protuberance 12, adapted to receive a wrench or other implement forapplying or removing the said cap to or from the said ferrule.

IIeretofore the vertical clean-outs of the ordinary drain-pipes at their bell ends have commonly contained threaded ferrules, such as the ferrule 10. These have been provided with screw-caps 11, which served to tightly close the upper ends of the cleanouts. Said ferrules thus inserted in the cleanout extensions of the drains and the caps or lids 12, screwed therein, have been impervious to water and adapted to prevent any surface water from entering the drain-pipes excepting after the said caps have been removed. This has frequently involved very considerable trouble and sometimes expense because of the difficulty of finding the cap when concealed by the overlying water and the difficulty of unscrewing the same when beneath the said water.

By my improvements I perforate the cap at a point between the angular protuberance 12 at the center and the threaded periphery of the said cap, and to the under side of said cap I secure at the perforation by solder or integrally a U-shaped tube 13, adapted to contain water and form a trap 18 to prevent the escape of gas, which tube extends downward from said plate or cap 11 and then upward to a point a half inch, more or less, from the under side of the said cap, where said U-shaped tube 13 is provided with a valve 14, which is hinged, as at 15, to the free upper end of said tube. The said tube is preferably of brass, copper, or other metal capable of withstanding dampness and is either cast upon said cap or is held thereon by a screw-thread or in any other suitable manner.

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The projection of the U-shaped tube from the plane of the cap lies wholly within the imaginary lines of a cylindrical extension of the threaded edges of the cap, and thus when the cap is being screwed u on the threaded ferrule the said ferrule wil not interfere with or obstruct such operation, and my improved trap-carrying cap may be substitutedfor an impervious cap without change in the cellar-bottom or its contained pipes. The U-shaped pipe being arranged as above described crosses the axial line of the protuberance 12, and so I amenabled to compactly dispose said U-shaped pipe within the narrow limits of the ferrule without interference of parts as the cap is being screwed into place. The upper end of said tube where it engages the cap is enlarged or made flaring, as at 16, and the said cap 11 at the enlarged end of the flaring tube is provided with a wire-netting 17, adapted to prevent any matter from entering the tube which might clog the passage therethrough or interfere with its operativeness.

rl`he valve 14 at the inner end of the tube 13 is adapted to open automatically by the force of the water passing through said tube, and the movement of the said valve is limited by means of the under surface of the cap, the said valve lying sufficiently close to the said under side of the said cap to strike the same when at or near its position of complete or fullest opening. The said under surface of the said cap 1 1 furthermore serves to prevent the valve from opening backward and falling against the side of the tube, where it will become inoperative.

In operating the device by employing a wrench or similar implement in connection with the central protuberance 12 the cap is turned on its axis within the annular or approximately cylindrical ferrule, thus turning the attached trap. Said trap crosses the axial line of the cap, as indicated in Fig. 1 in outline, but wholly lies within the threaded periphery in plan of the cap. Thus when said cap is turned said trap does not engage or interfere with the walls of the ferrule to prevent turning and unscrewing; but as the lower center part of said trap lies directly beneath the protuberance 12 said trap turns on its own center, the' described construction c enabling the cap when loose to be lifted directly up from the ferrule or clean-out and the trap to follow after without tilting the cap or the exercise of care to prevent damage due to a possible engagement of parts.

By the above construction the water from a cellar-bottom may drain out by gravity without any care or manipulation on behalf of the owner or occupant, and yet there is no danger of any escape of gas from the drain, the said drain being provided, in addition to the trap 18, attached to the cap, with the usual trap below the surface, and should the water in the cap-trap 18 dry out the valve 14 at the top of the inner end of the trap 18 will prevent the escape of gas to insure the greatest safety.

Having thus described the invention,What I claim as new is- 1. The improved cap for drain clean-outs having a threaded periphery and a central wrenching protuberance at the top and having a trap valved at one end and, at its end opposite the valve, fastened to the under side of said cap, said trap opening through said cap at one side of the said central` protuberance and at both its extremities lying wholly within the peripheral lines, in plan, of the cap, said parts being combined, substantially as set forth.

2. The improved cap for drain clean-outs herein described, having a threaded periphery and a central wrenching protuberance at the top and having underneath a U-shaped tube forming a trap, the lower central part of said tube lying beneath said central protuberance and the ends of said tube lying toward the periphery of said cap, one of said ends having a valve and the other end being attached to the cap, the latter being perforated between the central protuberance and the threaded periphery, at the point of attachment of said tube, said parts being combined, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the internallythreaded ferrule, of a cap having at its top a central wrenching protuberance and at its periphery a screwthread to engage the threads of the ferrule, and a depending trap comprising a U-shaped tube attached to the under side of the cap between the center of the cap and its periphery, the lower central part of said trap-tube lying directly in vertical line with the center protuberance, the upwardly-extending extremities lying oppositely toward the periphery of the cap, butf wholly within the peripheral line thereof in plan, the said trap lying within the ferrule and adapted to be turned therein without engagement with the side wall of said ferrule, said trap flaring at its attached end and opening through a perforation which is formed in the cap between the central protuberance and the threaded periphery, the opposite end of the trap-tube from the attached end lying away from the under side of the cap and provided with a valve having a limited movement from said end to permit a 'flow of water from the cellar-bottom, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of April, 1904.

ERNEST A. DREI-IER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, RUssELL M. EVERETT.

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